India annihilates Pakistan

Whatta Match!!!People in cricket fraternity often say, "Indo-Pak matches are more entertaining, exciting and thrilling than the World Cup finals". It was undeniably once again proved during the recent clash at Dambulla, with the match ending with just a ball to spare. Players of both the teams were found on a new high with some sparks being expected, as they met almost after nine months.
The match started with a cautious strokeplay by both the Pakistani openers, unwilling to give away their wickets. Indian bowlers toiled a lot to get their first breakthrough which came only after the duo had put up 73 on the board. Nehra varied his line and length perfectly and Praveen Kumar showed some extra ordinary slow bowling skills. Salman Butt steered the Pak’s innings with his brilliant knock of 74 off 81 balls. With the support lacking at the other end, Salman lost his cool and got run out, which gave India the much needed relief. But this was short-lived by Afridi’s brave strokes and a little cameo display, with his bat, from Kamran Akmal, who was the lone warrior in the Pak line up at the end of the innings. Before falling to Praveen's full toss, he carted him for a six and a four in the same over and almost in the same area around mid-wicket. The tail enders returned to pavilion, adding two runs to the total, following Akmal's dismissal with Saeed Ajmal giving a simple and straight forward catch to the covers.
The Indian innings was shaky at the start with Gambhir missing his stumps from an inch while angling a 92 miles delivery from Akhtar, and Sehwag failing to middle the bowl, looked out of touch. The batting was paralyzed with Sehwag’s hunt for his form and hip injury, which summoned him to call for a runner. But he could not guard his wicket and fell to Razzaq for just 10 off 31 balls. Kohli chipped in with a couple of good shots but soon became a victim to Ajmal's doosra. Dhoni and Gambhir put on decent partnership of 97 with almost a run from each ball. The run flow was halted with the fall of Gambhir's wicket and it was further impacted with Dhoni and Rohit Sharma returning to tent in the consecutive overs. At this stage, India required 52 off 30 balls, with Raina and Bhajji at the crease. Raina once again displayed his expertise in the death overs by hitting Akhtar for an unorthodox six, and clobbering Ajmal for a four and a six in the next over. The game picked its flavor only when the volatile Harbhajan clattered Akhtar over wide long-on for a huge effortless six making him unhappy. The shirty pacer replied with some heated aggression when Harbhajan missed out a well directed bouncer, trying to guide it to third man. With 7 runs needed in the penultimate over, India couldn’t have asked for Raina's wicket while he was trying to sneak a cheeky single. In no time the slouching Pak fielders transformed into zealots as India required 3 off 2 balls. But they were left with disappointment in their hands when Bhajji smote Aamer out of the park over midwicket. The winner of the match was announced with Bhajji’s unstoppable roar, unlocked helmet in one hand and willow in the other. Hitting 4 sixes in the final 5 overs, India stole the match with 3 wickets in hand and 1 ball remaining.